An elderly man seeking his missing daughter unexpectedly finds his flight delayed by heavy snow. A newly released sex offender struggles to cope with the temptations of the real world. A young businessman comes under the threat of blackmail. An attractive young girl ignores her sister’s warnings and becomes sucked into a life of prostitution. A paid driver, bored of his work, decides to take a pretty young woman out for a spin.
Yes, 360 is one of those films. Instead of following one set of characters from A to B, we meet (for example) one Character A, then another apparently unrelated Character B, then another Character C who turns out to be married to Character A but is having an affair with Character D who turns out to be the sister in law of Character B who once had their veruca removed at the same chiropodist’s office where Character E works. And so on. This isn’t actually what happens in 360 but hopefully you get the general idea.
And 360 is very watchable up to a point. It’s actually not as depressing as a brief summary of the plot makes it sound and some of the stories link together very well. Others such as the tale of Anthony Hopkins’ bereaved father do not really go anywhere. More disappointingly, the closing drama which provides the climax to the end of the film doesn’t entirely ring true.
This is nonetheless decent, well acted stuff set within an international setting and were it from a first time director, I would probably argue it shows considerable promise. However, Fernando Meirelles has already directed City of God and The Constant Gardener, while British screenwriter Peter Morgan is known for penning The Queen, Frost Nixon and The Last King of Scotland. We had reason to expect better.
Overall Verdict: Good but bearing in mind the high degree of talent involved, still somewhat disappointing.
Special Features:
Interviews with Director Fernando Meirelles
Cast and Crew Interviews
Trailer
Reviewer: Chris Hallam